Spring Artisans

It’s that time of the year. Upon exiting the worship service this past Sunday evening in Grand Rapids, we were pleasantly surprised to see a large swarm of honey bees hanging around 30 feet off the ground on a tree in the front yard. Evidently, the nearby hive of an urban beekeeper cast a swarm, giving birth to yet another colony. This is the honeybee reproduction at the macro level.

Most of our wintered over colonies are also now spilling over with bees. and we have begun the process of splitting them. For the beekeeper, this is how we attempt to prevent swarming and replace the colonies that we have lost over the Winter months. A key ingredient to strong colonies this time of the year is a large supply of pollen which serves as nourishment for young larva in the brood nest.

Now that the warmer weather is here and the bees are able to forage daily, it is a delight to open a hive and see their populations exploding. On the outer edges of the brood nest you will find combs chuck full of pollen. Such frames are actually works of fine art! The amazing symmetry of the drawn combs come alive with a dazzling array of colors, as the bees, the artisans of the Spring, artfully do their work with their palette’s of pollen. Seeing that vigorous swarm of bees in the tree outside of church Sunday evening was a fitting bonus point for the evening sermon. Spring time has to be a very difficult and dangerous time for the atheist, with all of its irresistible temptations to believe!

Pollen in the comb just as the bees packed it in. Obviously magnified a bit!

A nice swarm of bees hanging in the tree outside church on a Sunday evening. There must be some urban beekeepers nearby?

Various sources of Spring pollen gathered by the bees, glorious in color and full of nourishment for the brood nest.